India says negotiations on its long-awaited free trade agreement with the European Union are complete, with legal review and internal approvals now standing between the pact and signature.
The long-running India-EU free trade agreement has moved a step closer to signature, with India’s Ministry of External Affairs saying the main negotiating tracks have been completed and only legal and procedural work remains. In a briefing, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the text is still being scrubbed and that both sides want to bring the process to a close quickly, although no signing date has yet been announced.
The update adds detail to a deal that has been years in the making. India and the European Union first started talks on the pact in 2007, before reviving them in 2022 after a lengthy pause. The negotiations were formally concluded on January 27 this year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the breakthrough at the 16th India-EU Summit in New Delhi.
Since then, the focus has shifted from bargaining over market access to polishing the legal text and clearing the remaining institutional steps. According to the European Commission, the draft agreement has been published for information only and may still change during legal revision. The commission has also said the treaty will not become binding until both sides finish their internal procedures and the final text is signed.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said earlier this month that he had discussed progress on the pact with European Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Maros Sefcovic on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting. Goyal said on X that they reviewed the path towards signing and bringing the agreement into force, while also touching on wider co-operation through the India-EU Trade and Technology Council and reform efforts at the World Trade Organisation.
The agreement carries added weight because trade between India and the EU is already substantial. Official Indian figures cited in the reporting show goods trade between the two sides reached $136.54 billion in 2024-25, with Indian exports at $75.85 billion and imports at $60.68 billion. Services trade was also sizeable, reaching $83.10 billion in 2024, underlining the economic importance of a deal that both sides say could deepen investment flows and widen market access.
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